The ICC has recently re-issued a document first released in August 2015 titled “ICC Guidelines for the creation of BPO customer agreements”. These guidelines were produced to support the content of the Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligations (URBPO) Version 1.0 which were implemented in 2013.
The document does not provide a suggested text of a contract or agreement. The drafting of a BPO contract or agreement is like any other bank document and should remain within the domain and control of the concerned bank. However, what it does provide is a suggested list of categories, and the individual components within those categories, that should be considered when drafting a customer contract or agreement.
The appendix to the document contains a list of bank financing product and services descriptions that were drafted by SWIFT in May 2009 for the Trade Services Utility (TSU) documentation. This list is by no means fully encompassing or comprehensive, may contain concepts and terms which are not uniformly used worldwide, and is offered solely for guidance.
A previous draft text had been reviewed by the ICC Banking Commission Legal Committee and their valuable comments were incorporated into this final version.
It is the responsibility of each bank to design its financing products and services relating to the BPO and to assess their legal and operative feasibility.
A copy of the guidelines can be downloaded here